Another View: College costs pose challenges nationwide

New numbers about college costs and student debt provide a sobering reminder of the importance of planning for college and informing students about the realities of those costs.

The numbers also provide a caution for college leaders to redouble efforts to hold down costs.

The average student debt of a graduating college senior in 2008 was $23,450, the Institute for College Access & Success says in a new report that looks at public and private nonprofit four-year institutions.

By 2012 the average debt load for new grads had climbed to $29,400.

The indebted aren't a small minority of those new graduates, either.

Sixty-eight percent of U.S. college students finished classes with school-related debt in 2008. By 2012, that figure had risen to 70 percent. The 2012 figure for Nebraska students was 63 percent; in Iowa, 71 percent.

The ability of students to meet their debt obligations will vary widely, of course, with the students' earning ability as they enter the workforce.

Among the 50 states, Nebraska came in at No. 23 for average student debt in 2012, with $26,473.

The debt average varied from a high of $33,649 in Delaware to $17,994 in New Mexico.

Iowa ranked No. 6 with an average student debt load of $29,456.

[Louisiana was ranked No. 40 with an average student debt lad was $23,789.]

One standout figure for Nebraska was the commendably high level of state government funding for higher education: $8,100 per full-time equivalent student, a figure exceeded by only nine states.

The average for the 50 states was $6,600. Iowa's figure was just under $6,000.

During the recent recession Nebraska leaders, to their credit, did not subject NU to the types of massive budget cuts seen in many states, which then led to tuition hikes for their students.

The new report shows that over the past five years Nebraska and Iowa both held their tuition increases below the national average.

Nebraska has other positive news. It's encouraging that the current state budget includes enough funds so that in-state tuition at NU campuses is frozen for two years. The University of Iowa has a similar tuition freeze in place.

As NU President J.B. Milliken noted in a Midlands Voices essay last fall, NU student debt levels are at or below the average for peer institutions. NU has made major investments in the Collegebound Nebraska program, which waives tuition for students with the highest financial need.

More than 6,600 NU students are attending the university this year at least in part because of Collegebound Nebraska.

The efforts by Nebraska private colleges to help with student aid also deserve a salute, and the same goes for the high school counselors and the Nebraska foundation EducationQuest for their help to students and parents on aid issues. And the scholarships awarded by a wide array of Nebraska organizations, foundations and individuals are invaluable.

State Sen. Sen. Rick Kolowski of Omaha, with an upcoming legislative proposal, is right to explore ways to help lower-income families participate in Nebraska's state-sponsored college savings plan.

The challenges of meeting today's college costs are steep. So is the duty for state and university leaders to contain those costs.

The latest numbers underscore the obligations on all sides.

--Omaha (Neb.) World-Herald

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Another View: College costs pose challenges nationwide

OMAHA, Neb. -- College costs pose a challengeNew numbers about college costs and student debt provide a sobering reminder of the importance of planning for college and informing students about the